Alliance Interview Regarding Foundations and Impact Investing: Missing in Action

We need new ways of capitalizing social enterprise because individual social enterprises are not getting the right kinds of capital at the right time, principally because of the outmoded nature of the non-profit capital market. We must learn from, and collaborate with, the for-profit capital market, argues Jed Emerson, Senior Fellow with Generation Foundation, of Generation Investment Management. Blended value investing, one of the themes of the forthcoming Skoll World Forum, looks at ways in which financial instruments can be created to provide more, and more appropriate, funding for social change. But it’s not just a question of persuading mainstream investors to come to the table. Foundations, Emerson says, are both ‘essential and missing in action’. This needs to change, and change fast. As he points out, ‘People are dying while we try to figure this out, so we damn well better figure it out with more passion than we have in the past.’